Youth Advisory Committee a positive step

The City Council of Webster City is forming a Youth Advisory Committee to help bring younger voices into the direction of the community. The commission will include middle school and high school students, who will provide recommendations about ways to improve life in Webster City for young people. The Daily Freeman Journal supports this initiative and sees it as a positive development to build upon the city’s efforts to improve life for all its residents.

It’s good that we’ll be hearing the young voices. They have a strong grasp on technology, are adept at communicating via social media and researching information with a few keystrokes on a computer or smartphone. We need to hear their vision, their goals and what they want the future to hold.

We often hear about brain drain when talking about rural Iowa. Young people leave rural communities looking for work and education opportunities and just don’t return. The challenge for places like Webster City is to create not only a place that is desirable for businesses, but also a place that people want to come back to when they are ready to have families of their own or are ready to start a career. With the growth of telecommuting and the expansion of broadband access, many more opportunities have opened up rural communities. The more we can do to make ourselves attractive to young people and their parents, the better.

Applications for the Youth Advisory Committee are available in the middle school and high school offices or online at the City’s website, www.webstercity.com. Click on “Info and Resources” and download a general board application. Deadline to apply is Tuesday, Jan. 31.